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Published: August 8th 2011
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Wet road. Sometimes it was a bit wetter than this and sometimes you would have thought you were driving in to a lake!The weather was against me. Simple as that. I had really wanted to drive over the Brindabella Ranges down to Canberra but it was quite clear that the weather was simply not going to allow me to do that. So, I got on my way to Sydney. Rather than take the road out to Gundagai I took a partially sealed road to Yass and the idea was to go straight to Goulburn. I'm used to wet dirt roads - this was probably the most severe and dangerous case I've EVER seen. It rained cats and dogs that night in Tumut. I spent most of it eating ice-cream in McDonalds but at 10pm I finally had a chance to head down the Snowy Mountains highway to set up camp.
In the morning it became quite obvious that the weather wasn't on my side. It had rained buckets overnight but that wasn't going to stop me from doing what I wanted. It probably made it a lot more fun! It turns out that the Wee Jasper Road is actually a marked tourist drive. Following the signs from Tumut to Wee Jasper, you stay on the black stuff for a while before hitting
the dirt and the road was wet. Very wet. Normal driving in a full time 4WD isn't too tricky but it's always wise to keep your speed down and watch the corners because even at low speeds you are likely to be slip sliding all over the road. There is bitumen in some of the more tricky areas to make life a bit easier. Deciding that I needed to get on the laptop, I started looking for a track to park in. Eventually I came to one and I slowed down ready to pull in and as I pulled in the track objected and all I did was slide sideways. Not wanting to be refused entry, I reversed for about five metres and kicked 'er in the guts. So I got a fair way up the little track which was wonderful – until I started sliding sideways again. Lesson – if a track challenges you, it may be unwise to accept the challenge!! I hit the brakes but in this mud the car wasn't stopping. The truck slid down the little hill and then two wheels dropped off the side. Oh dear – this is not a situation you want
to be in especially if you have stuff on the roof. This is where real experience comes in. You have to make sure your front wheels are pointing in the right direction and that the car is going vertically up and down the hill. Putting her in low range, I was able to drive the car backwards for a metre and then forwards again. That was about all I was able to do. Time to use the diff lock!! Engaging the diff lock allowed me to back out ever so gradually. At least now I can say I got my wheels dirty!
For the next several hours it was the same thing. Slopping along the wet track and watching out for holes that were full of water. Closer to Wee Jasper the road becomes very scenic and a decrease in speed becomes as preferable as it is necessary as the road weaves its way 800 metres above sea level The road becomes little more than a single lane track carved in to the side of a hill. Wee Jasper is a nice little town with many types of accommodation and some beautiful water access points.
I didn't hang
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Slippery didn't even begin to describe the track conditions. At least the car got a good wash!! around - I just got on my way to Sydney. The rain was closing in and I had been watching the radar so I knew there was some gnarly weather coming. I stayed in Goulburn that night. The next entry I publish will be my trip around the Sydney area. I hated it - so I went north and the only free camping even remotely close to Sydney that I could find was in the Watagans. I'd heard about the Watagans as being an epic 4WD location. The rumours didn't do it justice! The next entry saw me decide to begin a very (very) long journey.
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